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3 Reasons why fast food is bad for you

Eating too much fast food is considered to be a leading cause of obesity, hypertension, and heart disease.

Fast food restaurants are popular because they serve tasty convenient foods for a reasonable price. Many people visit these restaurants frequently to eat their main meals. They don't realize that these type of food items are bad for health.

Here are some reasons why fast food is bad for your health.

Fast food contains more calories.

The majority of junk foods are loaded with calories. Large portion size and high fat content are the main reasons for the high energy content.

An average person needs to consume about 400-600 calories in a mealtime. (If he takes 3 main meals and 2 healthy snacks.) The calorie content of many items is far more than that level.

For example; KFC chicken pot pie has 790 calories. If you eat that and drink 300 ml of Pepsi, which contain 170 calories, you will have a total of 960 calories.

A McDonald's Big Xtra Hamburger with cheese have 810 calories. A Burger King's Club Chicken Sandwich is loaded with 700 calories.

Think that if you eat 220 more calories a day, you will gain one pound of extra fat in your body in two weeks time. That means 24 pounds in one year. That is a lot of weight gain. So, don't visit those restaurants more than once a week.

Fast food contains more unhealthy fat.

Most of the convenient foods contain high levels of saturated fat. This type of fat is mostly derived from animal products such as meat, eggs and butter. Palm oil and coconut oil also contain significant amounts of saturated fat.

Eating too much saturated fat can increase bad cholesterol level in the blood. Elevated levels of cholesterol are the main cause of heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular diseases.

Another type of fat presents in these foods is called trans fat, which is the worst type of fat. We do not need to eat trans fat, even in tiny amounts.

Consumption of trans fat is linked to elevated levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood. In addition, it can lower the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) in you body.

Fast foods are high in sodium.

Sodium plays several important roles in our body. We need to consume a certain amount of sodium every day.

However, taking too much salt is bad for the body. It can cause high blood pressure, obesity, and osteoporosis. In addition, experts believed that over-consumption of salt is linked to increased risk of developing bowel cancer.

An average adult need to consume about 1200 mg sodium per day. Many of the convenient foods contain far more than that amount.